


Countdown

by Augustus



Category: Sweet Valley High - Francine Pascal
Genre: F/F, First Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-12-27
Updated: 2000-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-08 05:59:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3198032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Augustus/pseuds/Augustus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica's thoughts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Countdown

**Author's Note:**

> The forgoing of proper paragraphing was intentional :-)

Five minutes until midnight.

It's almost the New Year. I should be making resolutions or something, not standing here being bored to death by Bruce Patman's shot by shot account of his latest tennis victory at that blasted Country Club. Not that I really need to concentrate on his words, as long as I keep smiling and nod whenever he pauses for longer than a millisecond. _If_ he pauses for longer than a millisecond. I wonder where Lila is. I can't see her in this huge crowd. She's probably off somewhere being the perfect hostess as always. Either that or she's spotted a cute boy and is now holding him hostage on the dance floor. I wish _I_ was on the dance floor. I wonder if Bruce would even _notice_ if I wandered off. I don't know why he's talking to me, anyway. It's not as though he even _likes_ me much. Oh well. I have ears, I suppose, and that's probably his only requirement. Talk, talk, talk… does he ever shut up? I guess he'll have to, come midnight. He'll want to use his mouth for something _different_ then. Oh god. I _have_ to get away from Bruce before midnight! Why, if he kissed me, I'd throw up, or laugh, or fall for him again, or something equally damaging to my prospects for the New Year. I've got to think of a way to get out of here. Come on, brain, help me out, here. I promise I won't call on you again until next year…

Four minutes until midnight.

I'm not entirely sure that Bruce bought my story. I know I don't _look_ ill - hell, I look _great_ tonight - but that doesn't automatically mean that I _feel_ okay. I guess I should have run off in the direction of the toilets, but it's a little too graphic a suggestion for a party of _this_ calibre. Speaking of which, I still can't spot Lila. It's not like her to blend into the crowd like this. Perhaps she's planning a big entry come midnight. I don't know why. The guys will all be queuing up to kiss her regardless. Just as long as I have at _least_ as long a queue, I'm happy for her. Not that I'd really want to kiss any of the boys here tonight. I've already _dated_ everyone who's remotely decent. Now _there's_ a good New Year's resolution - find someone half-decent to snog at midnight! I'm afraid it'll be a tricky one. That's the only problem with Lila's parties. The guests are always the same. And it's not even as though the big dos are at all exclusive. I mean, even my geeky sister and that no-hoper boyfriend of hers are here tonight, looking suitably like they found their clothes on the side of the road. Sometimes I just _cannot_ believe that I'm related to her. Just look at her over there - in a _corner_ , no less - talking to that Enid Rollins waste of space. I wonder who _Rollins_ thinks she'll be making out with come the New Year. I'm sure that Todd will try to be polite and give her a barely-there peck on the cheek, but it's not at all the same, even if she _will_ probably live for the memory for the rest of her pathetic little life. Hell, if you ask me, she'd much prefer to have her tongue down _Liz's_ throat, disgusting thought that it is. I mean, if you were going to swing, it wouldn't be for Rollins. Ugh. Now I _do_ feel ill.

Three minutes until midnight.

Uh-oh, here comes Winston. How am I going to get out of this one? He's wearing such a ridiculous outfit that you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a costume party. Oh great, he's talking to me. Nod, smile, try not to look at my watch… Where's Lila when I need her? She should be here, rescuing me from clown boy, not off god knows where, leaving me to his wise-cracking mercy. If he's still all over me at midnight, I'm going to _scream_. I _refuse_ to be reduced to kissing Winston. Perhaps I could tell him that I'm Liz, that he's got the wrong twin or something. No, that would never work. He would just have to _look_ at me to see that I was lying. Liz would _never_ wear an outfit as fantastic as this one. Apart from anything else, Lila would never be foolish enough to let her borrow it. She might let Enid touch it or something, and Rollins looks the type to have greasy fingers. Besides, we may be identical, but there's no way that Liz could pull _this_ look off. I think Winston's beginning to get the idea. A few more nods in the wrong places and he’ll be gone. Of course, then there's the possibility that there will be no one for me to kiss at _all_ when the clock strikes twelve. It's hard to know what would be worse for the ol' reputation, really. I mean, the thought of kissing Winston is repugnant, but the thought of not having _anyone_ to kiss is terrifying. I hate New Year's Eve. Everyone seems to have paired up already. Oh, it's fine for Liz and Todd; they've got each other. And people like Enid don't expect anything, so they're not about to get disappointed when nothing happens. But me? It'd be a _crime_ if I had to stand here looking 100% undesirable while everyone around me was snogging away merrily. Perhaps I should persuade Winston to hang around… No, even looking undesirable would be better than seeming desperate. I haven't reached that point quite yet.

Two minutes until midnight.

Oh, God, perhaps I _have_ reached that point! And Winston's gone now, so it's too late for that solution. He's talking to Enid now, of all people. I swear, if she gets a snog at midnight and I don't then there is something _seriously_ wrong with the world! Still no sign of Lila. I swear, she must be doing this to me on purpose; sucking all of the half-decent boys here into some vortex she's created especially for the purpose. She could at least leave me _one_. I'll never be able to show my face at school again if I don't get at least one snog at midnight. The fact that there's no one around who's particularly desirable is beside the point. It's the principle of the matter. It's like never wearing the same outfit to more than one party a year. Sure, if you're someone like Enid, or my sister, it's not like anyone's going to notice, but that's not the point. One has a moral obligation to look fantastic at all times. No one even seems to be looking my way at the moment. Don't they know what time it is? They'll be starting the countdown soon and it'll be too late to start flocking around me by _that_ stage in proceedings. I feel like announcing to the room that it's almost time to announce that it's almost time. It might sound a little crazed, though. They'd be more interested in checking the punch to see if it was spiked than in paying any attention whatsoever to me. Talk about misplaced priorities! And so much for that Lila Fowler being my best friend. What best friend would leave you stranded in the middle of the dance floor, with absolutely _no_ snoggable guys in sight and less than two minutes to go until midnight? It'd serve her right if I never talked to her again! You know, a few more seconds of this and I might just do that. One… two… three…

One minute until midnight.

Oh! There she is! I refuse to let on that I was looking for her. She can just stay over there with that good-looking senior from Big Mesa, as far as I care. Of course, _she_ won't be left alone and snog-less come the big moment. Knowing her, she's probably been spreading rumours about me having an especially contagious dose of the flu just so she could be sure that she'd have all of the decent guys to herself. I'm _definitely_ not talking to her now. Oh. She saw me watching her. I'll be blowed if I'm going to wave back, though. She's probably just being all nice and genial to impress Mister Big Mesa. Well, she's got another thing coming if she thinks that I'm about to spend so much as a _second_ promoting _her_ love life. Hell, I've got enough problems with my own! If she brings him over here to introduce him to her poor, desperate best friend, then I'll show him exactly how poor I'm _not_! It looks like she _is_ about to come over here. I hope she doesn't expect me to play the Enid Rollins role, because she's going to get the shock of her life if she does. Why, if that senior fellow was a little better looking, I'd march right over there and nab him for myself! Hmmm… She's left him there. Perhaps she's seen someone better over in this direction. What's she stopping to talk to _me_ for? Doesn't she realise what time it is? If she doesn't find someone quickly, we'll _both_ be stuck out here by ourselves when it hits twelve am. Maybe I should point the situation out to her. That'd be the _nice_ thing to do. Of course, when have I ever identified with the term 'nice'? Hell, if _I_ have to look like a loser at midnight, then _she_ can jolly well look like one too, even if she _is_ chatting away like she really _wants_ to be talking to me right now, rather than simply settling for company of any nature. They've started the countdown. Ten. I should really be looking for someone - _anyone_ \- to kiss at midnight. Nine. I'll _never_ live it down if I'm the only person here tonight to be left twiddling my thumbs while everyone else is going for it as though it were the end of the world, not just the end of the year. Eight. Of course, if Lila doesn't find herself a suitable boy pretty damn soon, she'll be stuck in the same, humiliating boat. Seven. Imagine no one wanting to snog _Lila_ at midnight on New Year's Day! What's the world coming to? Six. Why, if _I_ were a boy, I'd be the _first_ in line for the task. Five. Sometimes I wish I was a boy. It'd make life so much easier. Four. I wonder what people would think if I _did_ kiss her. It'd certainly give everyone something to talk about in the New Year. Three. She really _is_ looking quite incredible tonight. Two. Who am I kidding? Lila _always_ looks fantastic. One. I'd better stop this train of thought _right_ now. I am _not_ going to kiss my best friend. I must be mad. She'd probably just slap me anyway.

Midnight.

Oh God, she's kissing me. This I did _not_ expect. I wonder if everyone's watching us. I wonder what everyone's thinking. I wonder what _she's_ thinking. We shouldn't be doing this. We'll probably _ruin_ our reputations. Although… Perhaps it'd be worth it. So, this is what the new year's going to be like, is it? I think I like it.

**27th December 2000**


End file.
